Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

>
>
> Liz wrote:
>
> > Is one group spoken of here, or two groups?
>
> I'd say the two groups mentioned are in apposition, and when he says
> "Jerusalem," he's interested in the city itself.
>
> > And why would Nehemiah ask about the ones who were not
> > taken captive, and why would he call them "Jews"? It doesn't
> > seem in character.
>
> Well, like I said, that's without considering any contextual
> issues. You'd
> probably have a better sense of the period than I would, but
> I'm inclined to
> do some re-evaluation once I start reflecting on the circumstances.
>
> > Maybe he means the Jews who had (recently) escaped, i.e.,
> the Jews who
> > had been (until then) left behind in the captivity in Babylon.
>
> That's the other possibility that crossed my mind. One thing
> to look at
> would be the usage of the label, to see whether it's "escape"
> in the sense
> of avoiding something altogether or of getting out once
> you've got in. It
> might be both, in which case you wouldn't have much help
> there. The other
> question in my mind is whether there's any sense of escape
> from Babylon. It
> seems to me that most of the language refers to them being
> sent back by the
> Persian authorities. But then maybe I'm reading too much of
> the English idea
> "escape" into the situation. I guess I'll shut up now, since
> all I really
> meant to comment on was the singular form :-)
Yes, and I appreciate that.
Thanks a lot.
Liz
>
> Trevor Peterson
> CUA/Semitics
>
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